Colombo, September 23 (newsin.asia): The Speaker of the Sri Lankan parliament on Friday presented the first list of Members of Parliament, who have been nominated to the ‘National Council’, which had been established according to the proposal presented by Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena.
Presenting an amendment, the chief Government Whip said that the ‘National Council’ chaired by the Speaker should consist of not more than 35 MPs representing recognized political parties in parliament. The list includes the Prime Minister, the Leader of the House, the Leader of the Opposition, the Chief Government Whip and the Chief Organizer of the Opposition.
The MPs who will be included in the National Council currently presented to Parliament are: Douglas Devananda, Nazeer Ahamed, Tiran Alles, Sisira Jayakody, Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan, Johnston Fernando, Rauff Hakeem, Pavithradevi Wanniarachchi, Vajira Abeywardena, A.L.M. Athaullah, Professor Tissa Witharana, Rishad Badiuddin, Wimal Weerawansa, Vasudeva Nanayakkara, Palani Digambaram, Mano Ganesan, UdayaGammanpila, Rohitha Abeygunawardena, Namal Rajapaksa, JeevanThondaman, G.G. Ponnambalam, Ven. Athuraliye RathanaThera, Asanka Navaratne, Ali Sabri, C.V. Wigneswaran, Weerasumana Weerasinghe and Sagara Kariyawasam.
The names of another group of parliamentarians are to be announced in the near future.
The National Council resolution submitted by Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena to the Parliament on 20.09.2022 was passed in the Parliament without division.
The Prime Minister said that the National Coouncil will guide the formulation of short, medium and long-term national policies with the consensus of all parties. Another responsibility is to agree on short-term programs related to economic stabilization.
The Council will also be responsible for organizing special meetings attended by the Cabinet of Ministers, Chairpersons of National Councils and Special Committees and Youth Observers of Youth Organizations.
The ‘National Council’ has the authority to summon reports from the Sectoral Monitoring Committees, the Committee on Government Finance, the Committee on Government Accounts, the Committee on Public Enterprises and any committee that controls the government’s finances.
The National Council will be chaired by the Speaker and not more than thirty-five (35) Members of Parliament representing the Ninth Parliament from the recognized political parties of Sri Lanka including the Prime Minister, the Leader of the House of Parliament, the Leader of the Opposition and the Chief Government whip will be its members, according to the Prime Minister’s Media Division.
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